


It's Christmas Eve and I've Only Wrapped 2 Fucking Presents

by Marishna



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Christmas, Feels, First Kiss, Frustration, Gift Giving, M/M, Mistletoe, derek's not good at everything, gift wrapping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-25
Updated: 2012-12-25
Packaged: 2017-11-22 09:13:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/608199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marishna/pseuds/Marishna
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stiles wasn't exactly sure what he expected when he crept into the depot late on Christmas Eve--well, Christmas Day, technically.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It's Christmas Eve and I've Only Wrapped 2 Fucking Presents

Stiles wasn't exactly sure what he expected when he crept into the depot late on Christmas Eve--well, Christmas Day, technically.

Of all the things that could have gone through his mind seeing the great and mighty Alpha of the Beacon Hills district with tape wrapped around one clawed hand while he growled at a half-gift wrapped box wasn't one of them. It was one of the oddest, funniest, and, honestly, hottest things Stiles had seen in a while.

Stiles figured Derek could hear him as he approached, no reason to try for stealth now, but once Stiles appeared in his line of sight Derek turned his fanged scowl on him and growled louder.

"Whoa, whoa!" Stiles exclaimed, putting his hands up. He dropped the reusable shopping bag he was carrying but forced himself not to take a step back or provoke Derek.

Derek stopped snarling almost immediately but his fangs and claws didn't retract any. He shook his hand with the tape on it, trying in vain to get it off.

"Need some help?" Stiles offered.

"No!" Derek snarled. Stiles cocked an eyebrow and waited while Derek tried again, unsuccessfully, to free himself of the tape. Finally he conceded. "Yes."

Stiles reached out and pulled the tape off Derek's hand, careful to avoid his claws. Once he had it off he balled it up and tossed it to the floor where there was a fairly sizeable pile of shredded wrapping paper.

"Maybe you should have tried bags," Stiles suggested. "Little bit of padding and tissue paper and it's all good."

"I'll remember that for next time," Derek replied through gritted teeth. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm playing Santa," Stiles said with a grin, hoisting up the dropped grocery bag. He opened it up for Derek to see and revealed some perfectly wrapped presents, all with the names of the betas on them. Even Jackson.

"They'll smell you on them. They'll know they're from you," Derek said flatly.

Stiles' smile wilted a little. "Your heart is supposed to _grow_ three sizes on Christmas, Grinch."

Derek sighed. "Sorry," he said gruffly. "I'm just having a really hard time with this."

"I hadn't noticed," Stiles replied, deadpan. "Let me help you."

"No, I can handle it. You should be at home, anyway. Won't you be up, begging to open your gifts at 5am or something?"

"Hey, hey! I have _some_ self control! I can wait until 5:30!"

"Your dad deserves an award," Derek snorted.

"You have no idea," Stiles agreed. "Look, I'm an excellent gift wrapper. I've never had to stop at that booth in the mall in my life. I can do miracles with ribbon."

"I don't have any ribbon," Derek replied. Stiles shrugged and pushed Derek gently out of the way from where he was standing in front of the table the betas had brought from _somewhere_ a couple months back.

"We can't all be perfect. I'll do this one and then help you, okay? You can't go through life not being able to wrap a gift at least part-way decent."

Derek didn't say anything, barely moved. He silently watched as Stiles cleared the table as much as he could to have more space to work with, then he unrolled some paper and set a present down in the middle, precisely centred. He made quick work of folding the paper up and over, taping ends and even matching seams.

Derek could see how this would be something Stiles would be good at. He had a good eye for detail, the actual act of wrapping kept his hands busy and it was a short enough task that he couldn't get distracted. When he was done he handed the gift off to Derek who held it as if he wasn't sure what to do with it.

"It needs a tag," Stiles said as he turned to the next gift, in a different colour paper.

Derek could manage the tag easy enough. He peeled the back off the adhesive ones he'd bought (thank _God_ ), slapped it on the finished gift and scrawled Erica's name on it.

"This is nice," Stiles commented absently, as he continued his task. "The presents for the pack, I mean."

Derek was quiet for a few moments before he spoke. "It's been a while since I've celebrated Christmas."

"Since Laura?" Stiles asked quietly, realizing it was the first time he'd said her name out loud, let alone to Derek.

"Since my family," Derek replied.

"Oh," was all Stiles could say. The weight of that admission hung between them until Stiles finished gift number two and handed it to Derek to tag.

"Now come watch me with this one," Stiles instructed. Derek did has he was told, unable to pinpoint why he was letting Stiles tell him what to do or why he was revealing such personal information about himself but it felt okay. Almost right. 

Fucking Christmas.

Stiles spoke about what he was doing, how he lined up the patterns, how it was easier to have a tape dispenser so since didn't could Derek hand him strips, how to fold the ends and hide the additional paper at the ends until the package was done. Derek slapped a tag on it without being prompted and earned a grin from Stiles.

The next gift Stiles made Derek get more hands on with. He had Derek hold the paper and Stiles handed him the tape instead. 

"Can you grab the scissors and cut here?" Stiles asked, gesturing to the paper. Derek grinned to himself, let a claw grow and sliced down the paper neatly.

Stiles rolled his eyes at him, but grinned. "Show off."

Stiles made Derek wrap the last gift from start to finish by himself, with the help of pre-cut strips of tape and a lack of claws. The look on Derek's face when he finished it all on his own was worth it for Stiles because as much as Derek-the-Alpha was in control and sure-footed (most of the time), Derek-the-person was a mess. It was the little things like this that Stiles and the rest of the pack took for granted and when they realized Derek was lacking in pretty much every other area they were rich in--it was a slap in the face.

"You're good from here?" Stiles asked.

"Yeah, I think I'm done. Thanks," Derek replied gruffly, not avoiding but not really meeting Stiles' eyes.

"Cool. I'm gonna drop these off and head back home. I'll see you in a few days, right?"

"You're not coming to the gift exchange?" Derek asked, surprised.

"Uh, I didn't think I was invited."

"Of course you are. You're pack."

"Oh," Stiles said, surprised. "Um, okay. Dad's working the night shift and will be gone by four so I can come over after that. I -uh, I didn't get you anything, though. Mostly because I had no idea what to give you."

Derek shook his head. "That's okay, Stiles. I wasn't expecting anything. And this," he gestured to the wrapped gifts. "Was enough."

Stiles frowned and knew it wouldn't do. He looked around the depot, frustrated, until his eyes lit on something Lydia'd done a couple weeks before.

"Derek, come here for a second," Stiles said, gesturing for Derek to follow him. And his weird complacent attitude continued because he did as asked and trailed after Stiles, right into the doorway to the "bedrooms" of the depot where there was mistletoe hung.

Before Derek could realize what was going on Stiles leaned up, whispered "Merry Christmas" and kissed Derek quickly on the lips.

Derek didn't have a chance to react to the kiss before Stiles was pulling away and staring back at him warily, as if waiting for Derek to react badly. 

Derek blinked.

"So, I'll just be going now? Right, okay. See you later!"

Stiles attempted to slip by Derek but he reached out and caught Stiles by the sleeve and hauled him back. He cupped Stiles' jaw with one hand while the other settled on his hip and he pulled Stiles in for another kiss, this time knowing full well what was happening.

Stiles clung to Derek, hands curled up in Derek's henley while they kissed, slow and thorough. Once Derek let him go Stiles' mouth stayed open and he let out a quiet, "huh."

"Now you need to go. Go home, sleep, have Christmas with your dad. I've got another present to wrap," Derek told him, smiling softly with an eyebrow raised.

"Uh, not to be presumptuous here but it's for me, that's okay. I just got a pretty great present," Stiles said, blushing.

"Actually," Derek said, reaching up to pull the mistletoe down. "I was thinking about giving you something you could use all year."

Stiles grinned and leaned in to press his lips to Derek's quickly. "Merry Christmas, Derek."

**Author's Note:**

> While wrapping gifts, and growing increasingly frustrated, I thought about how easy it would be to cut wrapping paper with claws. And thus this was born.


End file.
